A day...in the life of.....


Let me set the scene for you. I am sitting here at the computer with a naked 3 year old on my back and a naked 1 year old dancing on the desktop. I have patiently...and not-so-patiently listened to Zoe's high-pitched shriek all day long: "yum yum, yum yum" squeal, cry, squeal. She has eaten several times...even feeds what I give her to the dog. "yum yum, yum yum" shriek at the top of her lungs. I can't talk on the phone. Amanda's principal called this morning (oh joy) and I had to hide in the garage with Zoe hysterically crying at the door.

Calgon. Take me away!

Thomas' 1/2 day turned into a disaster....instead of talking, we just screamed at each other. Nap time has vanished in our house because Aidan and Zoe constantly nod off in the car. Instead of writing this morning, I cursed as I cleaned up the cereal that Zoe had poured all over the floor. While I was cleanign that up, she pulled two shelves of books from Thomas' office onto the floor. Thomas and I tried having a cup of coffee to troubleshoot the new 'Amanda' issues and Aidan started teasing Zoe, who started her ear drum piercing shrieks. I was near tears. So Thomas and I argued and yelled at each other even though we weren't even mad and we wanted to just be able to communicate.

I have yelled at Zoe and Aidan all afternoon because it feels like they are attached to me. I can't get a moment's peace.

There is clean laundry strewn across the floor, the breakfast dishes are still in the sink....The mundane scutwork of the day is undone....but I just don't have it in me lately to tackle it all. I am tired.

We have been joking lately that we are experiencing death by Zoe.

She goes to bed easily at night, but then wakes up each morning between 3-3.30am. That is the official start of my morning lately. She cries and moans and is inconsolable.....not in a hysterical "I'm having a nightmare" way, but in a steady, rhythmic "I am planning on keeping you all awake" way.

We can't let her sleep in her room with Amanda, so she is back in our room. Some nights, Thomas just gives up and goes downstairs to sleep....and I turn on HGTV and flip through the channels to see if there is a program that isn't paid adertising that is on.

I'm sure that this is all just an unfortunate side-effect of too much time spent in the car.

Last night I was supposed to meet a study group for chemistry at Barnes and Noble...and when no one showed up, I was elated. I spent an entire evening studying and then writing, while Thomas did daddy duty at home....something that also wasn't fair. During the week it really isn't ok that either of us have to be soley responsible for homework, baths and bedtimes for 5 children. I was gleeful though....

Class...is lousy. My first exam grade was a whopping 67. When the dust settled and all exams were tallied, the class average was a 51. Out of 34 students, I had the 5th highest grade.

That's good, right? WRONG.

1. Please notice that my 67% is a D.
2. Look again and notice that even though I had ochem years ago and have a MS degree, I don't have the highest grade in the class. No, I'm not compulsive in the least.

We did get an email from the professor today that he had noticed several errors with the test itself and would be "getting back to us". Whatever. I didn't need a lot of time to tell him his exam was off. I read all chapters twice, outlined them once and then made note cards the next time. I solved all practice problems from the book twice. I really felt pretty good going in. The exam seemed to be pulled from a set of standard test questions that sadly didn't correlate to either our book readings OR our lecture notes. Yes, there are S-C double bonded molecules....like aldehydes and a ketones...just with S instead of O...BUT....we didn't study that....all we addressed was thiol groups and disulfide bonds. Lucky for me that I took orgo 12 years ago and could pull some of the answers out of my own rusty brain...or I might have fallen over the cliff.

The short version? I forgot what pricks chemistry professors can be. Why am I doing this to myself? That's right...I love the predictability and the fact that I can lose myself in something that makes sense. I have to keep focused on that. It's a learning experience, right?

I know it sounds like I'm unhappy. I'm not. Really, I mostly feel content and happy. You should have seen the big smile that I had on my face this morning when I had to walk Aidan into the Montessori preschool in my pajamas because we arrived too late for the pick-up line. I know the teachers must have noticed how happy I was, because one of them did come out to helpI have adjusted to our commutes and I feel like we are finally reorganizing after a long summer and prolonged start to the school year. Today is just one of those days.

And so I leave you with pictures from a day....in my life:

Setting the breakfast table in the morning at the Math B&B


Family Breakfast time:


And we're Off. Notice the filthy car and the fact that Zoe is sitting in her back-up carseat because she peed through her regular one and the cushion/cover is in the laundry. boohoo me:





The endless driving is punctuated by:



After preschool pick-ups we (too often lately) do a healthy meal at the McDonalds with the play area. You know you go there too much when your 1 year old sees the golden arches and says "yumm yumm":


At home, there is plenty of work to do. (These pics are for Jane aka Jenn)



At some point during each day I have been making it a point to drive by my dream house...that is on the market but is so out of our league that I don't know why I'm torturing myself:




After school pickups start with Amanda (aka you are in so much trouble young lady):


Then we're back into the lovely St. Cloud traffic. Obviously, the city managers have rocks for brains. This particular street has looked like this for MONTHS. I have no idea what they are doing, but it makes getting from point a to point b a nightmare. It's a loooong stretch of construction and there is a long pipe laying across several blocks of road...and here is a long stretch of pictures to make my point. Finish it UP already, people!:







You think we're holding hands, don't you?

Watch me try and kick her (oh yah, eyes on the foot):


I would have added a photo from picking up Andrew, but we waited in front of his school for 15 minutes. I finally had to go in because Aidan had an urgent potty issue. When I came back out, Andrew and Amanda were screaming and yelling at each other over who got to ride "shotgun" and I forgot all about the camera while I barked at them to sit down and be quiet or I was running away from home. :>

phew....and that's just 1/2 of my day....There is dinnertime, homework, bathtime and the bedtime extravaganza to test my stamina and patience too. Have I mentioned recently that this is harder than any job I've ever had?

Kris
ps...obviously not all pics were taken on the same day [/quote]